Surprise
by typicalteenager13
Summary: Pepperony. Tony gets called off on a mission and brings home a surprise for Pepper. Minor spoilers for Iron Man 3, only from the trailer. One-shot


**Hey guys, I'm back! First off, I am amazed at the response to my first story and the demand for more! I have a poll going on my page so please vote if you want 'Home Sweet Destroyed Home' finished or not. This is another one-shot about how the giant bunny in the Iron Man 3 preview could have got there. I wrote it for my wonderful BBF IWearTheCapsRing! Enjoy! :)**

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To say the least, Pepper was not impressed with Tony. At all. It had started off a normal day. Pepper had woke up at 6, as usual, while Tony was still sound to sleep. Her morning routine was the same as it always was, shower, get changed and have breakfast. Then the phone rang.

"Who is it?" Pepper asked Jarvis as she placed her dishes in the sink.

"Ms Romanoff Ms Potts" Jarvis's polite voice told her. Pepper frowned. Natasha knew Tony slept in, so this couldn't be good.

Pepper picked up the phone "Hey Natasha" she said, trying not to sound to glum. "I'm guessing I should go wake Tony up"

"I'm sorry Pepper" Natasha told her apologetically "I wouldn't call if we didn't need him"

"Ya I know" Pepper said with a sigh. "I'll go get him. Bye Natasha"

"Bye Pepper" Natasha said and then hung up. Sighing, Pepper walked back to her and Tony's bedroom. In her mind, she knew this was part of who Tony was. That this was something he had to do. But she was always scared that someday she would get that terrible phone call. That one day he wouldn't come back. No matter how many times he did come back or that he promised her that he would, she would always have this fear. And that was something she had to learn to live with. Tony and the suit were a package. She opened the door to their room. Tony of course was still sound as sleep. He looked so different when he slept, like a child. He still had nightmares, but Pepper now knew exactly what to do when they happened. They were a team. She walked over to Tony's side of the bed and ran her fingers his hair.

"Tony" she said, moving her hands from his hair to shake him "Tony wake up"

"Five more minutes" Tony mumbled

"Now Tony" she said in her do-what-I-say-or-there-will-be-trouble voice.

"Why did you wake me up so early Pep?" Tony complained, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He took one look at her face and immediately knew. "I've been called in, haven't I?" He said, already knowing the answer

"Yeah" Pepper nodded "Natasha called. It sounded urgent"

Standing up, Tony sighed. "Time to go be a hero then" He wrapped his arms around her and look straight into her eyes. "I'll see you later, okay?" He promised her and she nodded. He kissed her "I love you"

"Love you too" She told him "And Tony?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Please be safe" Pepper said "And don't call me babe" She added, even though she knew he wouldn't listen. Tony chuckled as he made his way out the door. Taking a deep breath, Pepper gathered her things and headed off to work.

* * *

For the rest of the day, it had been pretty normal. Meetings went as normal, no one questioning Pepper explanation for why Tony wasn't present. All she had to simply say was "He had a personal emergency" for everyone to not ask any more questions. Besides, Pepper mainly ran the business part of Stark Industries by herself. All day whenever her phone rang she jumped, praying that it wasn't Shield calling to tell her of Tony's death. But luckily that call never came. It was about 8 when Pepper finally decided that she should head home. Packing up her things, she checked her phone again. No calls from Tony or Shield. She supposed no news was good news. When she got home, she made herself dinner and headed to bed around 11. Still no call from Tony, which was strange because even when he was on a mission he called her to let her know he was okay or got someone from Shield to call. Picking up a book Pepper read until about 12 and still no news. Finally she decided she should at least try to sleep.

* * *

In the middle of the night she felt someone crawl into bed with her. "Tony?" Pepper mumbled, still half asleep.

"Yea" Tony answered, sounding tired "It's me. Go back to sleep sweetheart" he told her, kissing her forehead.

"M'kay" Pepper responded, almost immediately falling back to sleep. Tony climbed into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled into his chest. They both fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

Pepper woke up to empty bed. She frowned, did she dream Tony coming home last night? "Jarvis" she asked sitting up and rubbing her eyes "What time is it?"

"It's 10 o'clock Miss Potts" Jarvis told her "And Mr Stark has cancelled all your meetings for this morning. He also says to tell you to shower and come down stairs because he has a surprise for you"

"A surprise?" Pepper said, suddenly worried. Surprises from Tony were usually not the best. "What's the surprise?"

"I've been instructed to tell you, but I can tell you it will not explode and doesn't involve any lawsuits" the AI informed her.

"Well that's good at least" Pepper said, now completely confused. Deciding she better go figure out what Tony was up to, she showered and changed into a pair of jeans and one of Tony's old MIT shirts. She threw her hair back into a ponytail and made her way downstairs. As she reached the bottom of the stairs her 'surprise' came into view. A giant stuffed rabbit with giant red bow.

"Tony!" Pepper squeaked in shock "What the hell is this? And why is it in our living room?"

"It's for you!" Tony said walking in, dressed in dark washed jeans and an AC-DC t-shirt. "Its my 'sorry I didn't call you present'."

Pepper just stared at him "How... Where did you even find this?"

"It's amazing what you can find on E-Bay"

"I'm not sure if I want hug you or slap you" Pepper told him, "I can't believe you bought me a giant bunny. Where on Earth are we going to put it?

"We'll worry about that later" Tony said pulling her towards him "For now, lets enjoy our morning together. Come on, breakfast is ready." He grabbed her hand, leading her towards the kitchen

"Um Tony" Pepper said nervously "I love you and all but your cooking skills aren't the best"

Tony chuckled "Don't worry Pep, it's take out"

"Oh okay. In that case, let's go eat!" Together they walked into the kitchen and Tony got two plates down and began to place the take-out onto them. It always fascinated Pepper, the way Tony knew exactly what she wanted. He was over the top sometimes (okay, almost _always_), but that was how Tony said 'I love you'. As Tony served her plate of food smiling at her, she realized no matter how annoying he was or how much she feared him getting killed she wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world.

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**Thank you for reading, please review and remember to vote!**


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